Why didn’t the Governor bother to do this before passing SAFE? Because he thought he was on the winning side of the issue. Oops.

“… Cuomo invited Falcone to bring a small group of gun rights advocates to sit down with him in Albany …”

NYSRPA’s office is literally right across the street from the Legislative Office Building. Why hasn’t he called us? Because we’ll tell him things he does not want to hear. Plus, I know why he is doing this and it is not out of the goodness of his heart.

A few weeks back Cuomo announced his support for legalizing crossbow hunting in the state. This is a blatant attempt to get the “sportsmen” back on his side. Nevertheless, he got a bunch of Fudds to go along with it and I am waiting for a press release to drop announcing what a great friend the Governor has been to hunters in the state because of it.

Now he wants to a meeting with gun owners. When 12,000+ gun owners showed up on his doorstep last year to protest he didn’t want to meet with any of them and made sure he was out of town that day. Two weeks ago he said in a radio interview that anyone who supports gun rights should leave the state. What has happened in the last few days to change his opinion of gunnies?

“… A year after making a call for his broad gun control agenda the emotional big finish, Obama devoted just two sentences to preventing gun violence … “Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day,” Obama said, according to prepared remarks. “I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say “we are not afraid,” and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook.” …”

It is my understanding that someone is doing robocalls in WNY asking if you would be more or less likely to vote for Senator Ted O’Brien (D-55) or Senator Mark Grisanti (R-60) because of their votes supporting the SAFE Act. I’m going to assume it is the incumbents behind the calls. They probably should have looked into this before voting in favor of SAFE.

“… Operation IMPACT, which since 2004 has sent more than $20 million to Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties to make police more data-driven and nimble, has been replaced in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2014-15 budget with a $15.2 million program focused more intensely on the most violent crimes. Rather than an abandonment of IMPACT, which debuted in Albany’s then-crime-ridden Park South in 2004, Cuomo administration officials are billing the new Gun-Involved Violence Elimination initiative as an expansion of the earlier program …”

This is just SNUG by another name. The publicly stated idea behind SNUG was spreading money around in high crime areas ostensibly to teach young people that shooting each other is bad. In Albany, some it went for block parties:

“… Albany SNUG volunteer Vivian Kornegay says the violence around the Capital Region is heartbreaking. That’s why she organized a block party with music, food and dancing in Albany’s South End … Kornegay, the mother of a shooting victim herself, says there have been similar events in the past. But she says part of the difference here, is that Saturday’s event is more than just a party. She says not only will they be having block parties, they will be out canvassing the neighborhood and engaging the community in order to bring an end to the violence …”

“… The son of a woman who has been fighting against gun violence in Albany, was shot Tuesday. Police say 32-year-old Rasuan Kornegay was shot one in the leg on First Street. No one was arrested. This is the second time in two years Rasuan Kornegay has been shot. In 2010, he was shot outside a food mart on Quail Street. Kornegay is the son of Albany SNUG volunteer Vivian Kornegay …”

I cannot prove it, but I would guess it was done at the request of the Governor as he tried to enlist their help last year to offset the 12,000+ pro-gunners who showed up at the Capitol last year to protest SAFE.

“… The Governor has never demonized the opposition to his gun law nor stance on protecting choice nor marriage equality. The Governor is a gun owner and a Catholic. His faith is very important to him and he respects the Second Amendment. I have been party to many of these discussions over the years and while opinions are firm, the entire discussion on these different views has been tempered and respectful. The Governor’s main principle for New York State is tolerance of different opinions, races, sexual orientation, and religion …”

When a politician starts making personal attacks against the media, it is a desperation move on their part and shows their weakness on an issue.

This move is especially dumb as Andrew didn’t have the courage to do it himself, he had one of his flunkies do it, and his target, Fred Dicker, is often referred to as the “Dean” of the Albany press corps and covered state politics for 30+ years. Fred outlasted his Old Man in Albany and he will outlast Andrew as well.